More Options

Popular Directory Searches

More Options

FindLaw Legal Dictionary

The FindLaw Legal Dictionary -- free access to over 8260 definitions of legal terms. Search for a definition or browse our legal glossaries.

Divorce

divorce n

[Middle French, from Latin divortium, from divorteredivertere to leave one's marriage partner, from di- away, apart + vertere to turn]: the dissolution of a valid marriage granted esp. on specified statutory grounds (as adultery) arising after the marriage compare annulmentNOTE: The most common grounds for divorce are absence from the marital home, drug or alcohol addiction, adultery, cruelty, conviction of a crime, desertion, insanity, and nonsupport.

limited divorce: an intentional cessation of cohabitation between spouses :separation

no-fault divorce: an absolute divorce that is not based on either spouse's fault and that is granted usually on the grounds of an irretrievable breakdown or when husband and wife have lived apart for a statutorily specified period of time vb di·vorceddi·vorc·ingvt1: to dissolve the marriage of (a husband and wife) by judgment or decree of divorce 2: to sever the marital relationship with (a spouse) by a judgment or decree of divorce vi: to obtain a divorce